Long Beach State University Athletics
Niners Charge Out on the Road
4/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Road Trip Awaits Long Beach State Record: 27-12 Big West: 8-1 | Hi Rank: No. 9 | vs. Ranked Teams: 8-5 Dirtbag Lowdown: The first place and No. 9-ranked Dirtbags (27-12, 8-1 Big West) will head out on a four-game road trip this week, beginning at Loyola Marymount (15-20) on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and continuing at the University of the the Pacific (17-21, 3-6 Big West prior to a game on Tuesday) this weekend. Righthander Cody Evans (0-2, 2.33) is likely slated to start for LBSU at LMU on Tuesday, but like the previous two midweek affairs, numerous pitchers should see action. This will be the last midweek game until May 25, when The Beach play a re-scheduled game at USC. The Dirtbags return to conference play this Friday at 6 p.m. when lefthander Cesar Ramos (8-3, 1.53) brings his five-game win streak to Stockton to face-off against righthander Luke Massetti (4-5, 4.71). On Saturday, Marco Estrada (5-0, 1.98), who has had a string four-straight no-decisions, will oppose righthander Jason Haar (1-4, 5.07). On Sunday, Jared Hughes (5-2, 2.37) takes his four-game win streak against lefthander Brett Manning (1-4, 4.84). Both games on Saturday and Sunday are at 1 p.m. The Dirtbags have won 10 of 12 had enter the week with the nation's top ERA at 1.94. Tulowitzki Back in the Swing of Things: Dirtbag shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (Sunnyvale) was named the Big West's Hitter of the Week after batting .571 last week. Since Tulowitzki's return from the disabled list on March 24, The Beach have won 11 of 14 and steadily moved up in the rankings. After getting just one hit in his first 12 at-bats after returning, he has hit safely in 10 of the last 11 games. Rank and File: The Beach moved up in all three polls this week to No. 9 in Collegiate Baseball, No. 10 in Baseball America and No. 13 in Sports Weekly/Coaches Poll. This is the team's highest ranking of the season. The Beach returned to the top-25 in all three polls on March 28, after ranking between No. 25 and No. 29 in the coaches poll for the previous month. Tracking The Beach: Long Beach State will have most of its schedule on KWRM-1370 AM this season. All night games as well as Sunday games (started in progress at 2 p.m.) will be on the larger signal. The games can still be heard through the Long Beach State website at www.longbeachstate.com as well as at every ballpark LBSU plays in with a normal radio. Veteran radio announcer Rob Buska will serve as the play-by-play man. Fans can all track the game live with CSTV's Gametracker software. Mike Weathers Show: The Mike Weathers Show will now air a half hour earlier starting at 6 p.m. this week and throughout the rest of the season, as it will lead into Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Baseball for the rest of the season on KWRM-1370 AM. This week's guests will be infielder Cole Jacobsen and pitcher Andrew Liebel. Fans are welcome to attend all season long as Rob Buska and Coach Weathers will take your questions and offer giveaways, which will include autographed baseballs, jerseys, tickets and more. The show can always be heard on the internet. THE OPPOSITION A Look at Pacific: Ed Sprague's club had won seven of its last 10 prior to getting swept at home by CS Fullerton last weekend by a combined score of 28-10... UOP enters Tuesday's contest with Saint Mary's at 17-21 and 3-6 in the Big West... the Tigers are batting .251 as a team with a .963 fielding percentage and a 4.73 team ERA.. Adam Ching leads the club in hitting at .33 with 16 runs, while Matt Berezay has a team-best 26 RBIs... Justin Baum, who has been battling ankle problems, is amongst conference leaders with 10 homers and 25 RBIs, while Anthony Jackson is also on the mend having swiped 14 of the team's 24 bases this year... on the pound, Josh Schmidt has a 1.38 ERA and seven saves, while converted starter Matthew Pena has a 2.51 ERA out of the pen... Schmidt has struck out 58 and walked just 17 on the season... LBSU has swept the last five series with the Tigers. LAST WEEK Beach Sweep CS Northridge: Paced by Big West Player of the Week Troy Tulowitzki and a Dirtbag pitching staff that allowed just five runs all weekend, the No. 14-ranked Dirtbags swept visiting CS Northridge (W 7-2, W 5-3, W 6-0). In the opener, Cesar Ramos won his fifth-straight with 7.1 strong innings of four-hit baseball, as LBSU scored early and then broke it open with three in the seventh to put it away. On Saturday, Sean Boatright led-off the eighth with a single and came around to score the go-ahead run to make a winner out of Steve Hammond in relief. Marco Estrada picked up his fourth-straight no-decision, despite a no-hitter through four and pitching to just one over the minimum through six. On Sunday, Jared Hughes pitched 6.2 shutout innings for his third-straight win, Troy Tulowitzki had four hits and Sean Boatright extended his hit streak to 16 games. LBSU pounded out 14 hits and saw their team ERA drop to a nation's-best 1.94. DIRTBAG BITS Wherever you Look the Numbers are Dropping: The Dirtbag Big Three of Cesar Ramos (1.53 ERA), Marco Estrada (1.98) and Jared Hughes (2.37) may be getting even better as the season progresses as the trio each has ERAs under two over the last month or so. Ramos has an 0.88 ERA over his last five starts (all wins), Hughes has an 0.56 over his last four starts (all wins as well) and Estrada is 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA over his last six starts. The bullpen features a closer in Neil Jamison (0.00 ERA) who has 10 saves and has yet to allow a run, while setup man Brian Anderson has a miniscule 0.61 ERA in 21 appearances. Jered Weaver is the only starter in the last three decades for the 49ers to have an ERA under 1.75 for the season, when he produced a 1.62 ERA last season. Friday Night's Ace: So far this season, lefthander Cesar Ramos (Pico Rivera) has outdueled two fellow All-Americans in Mike Pelfrey (Wichita State) and Ricky Romero (CS Fullerton), and propelled himself into one of the nation's elite pitchers. At 8-3 with a 1.53 ERA, Ramos has three complete games on the season and struck out 73 and walked just 10 on the year. Opponents are batting .203 against him. Ramos is 26-11 in his three-year career, third all-time in career wins. Jamison Closes in on Second Place: With 25 career saves to his credit (including 10 this season, senior closer Neil Jamison (San Diego) will tie current Brewer farmhand Josh Alliston (1999-2002) for second place all-time with his next save. Both closers are well away from all-time leader Gabe Gonzalez (1992-95) and his 46 career saves. Jamison has already surpassed Alliston in games pitched with 96 in his career and could become just the second pitcher in 49er history with 100 career games pitched (Gonzalez has 121). Setup man Brian Anderson has 66 career games, sixth-best all-time. Star Studded Shortstop: After connecting on 10 of his first 19 to begin the year, it looked like a big year for pre-season All-American shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (Sunnyvale), following a starting stint on Team USA this past summer. After the hand injury put him on the disabled list for six weeks, the junior has returned to his early season form, leading The Beach with a .386 average to go along with 15 runs (in 19 games) and a .614 slugging percentage. Mid-Season Mocny: As if mid-season did not come soon enough for senior Danny Mocny (Santa Rosa), the team's utility player has yet again gotten hot at the right time, riding a six-game hit streak into the weekend as his average has risen to .282 on the year. The junior, who had not played the outfield since his freshman year at Hawaii, made a couple of spectacular catches in left over the weekend. Mocny's late season push last year earned him honorable mention all-conference honors last season as a trip to Omaha may be in the cards this season. Crosby Gives Back, Again: Oakland Athletics shortstop Bobby Crosby gave back yet again to his alma mater, donating the $20,000 he earned for winning the Rookie of the Year last season, back to The Beach. Crosby continued a tradition of recent Dirtbags in giving back to their program when he gave $10,000 of his signing bonus to LBSU following the 2001 draft. Mid-Season Bracketology: The "experts" have put out their predictions for the field of 64 and according to the boys in Durham and Baseball America, LBSU will yet again head to back Palo Alto as the second seed, joining Michigan and San Jose State. The Beach are matched up with Miami in the publication's bracket. In Baseball America, CS Fullerton hosts Arizona State, Pepperdine and LeMoyne and Cal Poly is sent to Arizona. In SEBaseball.com's creative prediction, The Beach are hosts to Clemson, Washington and Rutgers, matching up with the Texas regional. That prediction all features CS Fullerton, Cal Poly and UC Irvine in the field of 64. One of the Early Season's Top Games: The Dirtbags 1-0 win at Wichita State behind a four-hitter by Cesar Ramos was tabbed as one of the season's best games so far, according to Baseball America's mid-season report. More of Durham's picks can be found at their website at baseballamerica.com or by picking up a publication on news stands now. Mid-Season All-Americans: Baseball America tabbed two pitchers on the Dirtbag pitching staff as mid-season All-Americans, with closer Neil Jamison getting a first team nod and Cesar Ramos, one of the publication's National Players to Watch, earning a spot on the second team. Godfrey Out: Starting first baseman Brandon Godfrey (Los Alamitos) is out indefinately for a violation of unspecified team rules. Godfrey started 33 games this season and batted .333 and has not played since April 12. Strong Pre-Season, Considering: The Dirtbags completed virtually its entire non-conference schedule in good order (a three-game series with UC Davis and a Wednesday affair with USC to end the year are the only other non-conference games), as The Beach over the first half of the season took four series over top-15 opponents (Arizona State, Baylor, Wichita State and CS Fullerton) and did so virtually without the middle of the lineup, Sean Boatright (hamstring-three weeks), Danny Mocny (shoulder-four weeks) and Troy Tulowitzki (left hand-six weeks), who all missed time due to injury. The trio returned for the first time against CS Fullerton to close out March. Draft Predictions: Baseball America put out its mid-season update of top college prospects, and no surprise, but The Beach feature two of the top-20. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is listed as the sixth-best college player, while lefthander Cesar Ramos is the 19th-best player and seventh-best pitcher in the country. National Watch Lists: The award that Jered Weaver won last year, may just go to another Dirtbag, as two hurlers, lefthander Cesar Ramos (Pico Rivera) and righthanded closer Neil Jamison (San Diego) are both on the initial watch list for the Roger Clemens Award. Ramos is also on the watch list for the Wallace and Baseball America National Player of the Year Awards. Top Rated Players: Baseball America has put out its annual list of top players, and it's no surprise Long Beach State is amongst the nation's brightest. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (Sunnyvale) is the sixth-best junior, while lefthander Cesar Ramos (Pico Rivera) is the 18th-best junior. Righthander Neil Jamison (San Diego) is rated as the third-best senior, while Jared Hughes (Laguna Beach) is the 31st-best sophomore. For the second straight year Tulowitzki's is the conference's top defensive shortstop with the best arm. Ramos has the best control in the conference. |
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